Wilko Johnson says he is 'cancer-free'
Former Dr Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson has said he has been "cured" of the terminal pancreatic cancer with which he was diagnosed in 2012.
The 67-year-old had radical surgery earlier this year in which a tumour was removed along with his pancreas, spleen and part of his stomach.
"It was an 11-hour operation," he said at this year's Q Awards in London.
"This tumour weighed 3kg - that's the size of a baby," he continued. "Anyway, they got it all. They cured me."
Johnson's declaration came as he accepted the Icon Award at the Grosvenor House ceremony on Wednesday.
In his acceptance speech, he paid tribute to a cancer specialist at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.
The guitarist said: "He runs all the tests again and he says they think that they can do it and they did it, man... they took this tumour out of me."
Johnson played a series of farewell concerts after making his diagnosis public in January 2013 but continued to be well enough to perform.
The guitarist expressed amazement that he had been "carrying that thing" - meaning the tumour - "on stage with me every night".
Johnson's operation also involved the removal of his small and large intestines and the removal and reconstruction of blood vessels relating to the liver.
Following his operation in April, his doctors were said to be "hopeful that the prognosis for Wilko will be positive".
